Former U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn became the first casualty of the Donald Trump administration. On Monday night, the freshly appointed national security advisor was essentially forced to resign the post after it was revealed that he lied to both Vice President Michael Pence and President Donald Trump. The issue centered on communications that Michael Flynn engaged in with a high-ranking Russian government official.
Conservatives are crying foul that the latest and most visibly embarrassing cabinet controversy is nothing more than a liberal media witch hunt. There is some truth to that assertion. The President has made it clear in the campaign cycle that restoring Russian relations was a priority for him. Furthermore, the conversation with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak allegedly occurred at an inopportune time — right when President Obama issued new Russian sanctions on December 29, 2016.
The liberals are asserting that Michael Flynn violated the Logan Act. That, however, would only hold up if there was real evidence that Flynn attempted to negotiate foreign affairs without the authorization of the federal government. No one has ever been found guilty of the Logan Act — otherwise, we would be seeing hoards of the left-right political establishment tagged for violations. So it’s very unlikely that the cabinet controversy would have criminal repercussions for Michael Flynn.
On the other hand, the circumstances shine unfavorably on the Donald Trump administration. Flynn was appointed as the national security advisor, a post with extremely significant leverage. The fact that Michael Flynn deliberately misled the commander-in-chief extracts questions on how deep Russian relations run in the current administration.
Maybe there’s nothing to it. But if not, why hide the fact that a discussion took place with the Russian ambassador? After all, this allegedly occurred at the time when new and controversial Russian sanctions occurred by a bitter President Obama. Surely, someone used to the political spotlight like Michael Flynn would recognize the optics of the situation.
Conspiracy theorists are desperate to peg the Michael Flynn resignation as a globalist attack on Donald Trump. They claim that General Flynn was an active opponent of the military industrial complex. Paul Joseph Watson wrote that “The real reason for Flynn being forced out is that he represented a direct threat to the military industrial complex that was swept aside by Trump’s victory.”
Evidence? The only thing that people see are 33 years of service to the military industrial complex. That’s a rather odd way of expressing your opposition to it.
Instead, the real story is this — Michael Flynn screwed up. If there’s more to it, then hopefully the truth will come out. For now, he’s guilty of a political blunder. But this really hurts the man at the top. Donald Trump and his team have consistently praised Flynn, and now, their confidence has been embarrassingly shattered. This administration needs to straighten up, and be ready for the leftist onslaught.
Otherwise, it will be four years and out.